Tesla stock dips on poor Model S review

The idea of a driving an electric car has always intrigued me, but after reading a New York Times review of the Tesla (TSLA) Model S on I-95, it sounds like a total nightmare.

According to the writer, the battery on the Model S drained much quicker than promised in cold weather during a recent trip up and down the East Coast. With only a few charging stations in the Northeast, the writer was forced to turn off the heat in 30 degree weather to conserve power. And that didn't help him much. At one point he needed to get towed for 45 minutes to the next charging station.

The New York Times article on Tesla seemed to spook investors. Tesla's stock dropped more than 3% Monday. So much for all those "Car of the Year" awards?

Before we all get too hasty, the stock bounced back Monday afternoon after Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to the Twittersphere in defense of the Model S.

NYTimes article about Tesla range in cold is fake. Vehicle logs tell true story that he didn't actually charge to max & took a long detour.

The NYT review is just one of the short-term hits that Tesla shareholders must be willing to absorb. As the Wall Street Journal points out, Tesla must produce 400 cars per week to break even. As of October, it was making 200 a week. Analysts are predicting that Tesla will post a loss of 53 cents a share for the fourth quarter.

Maureen Farrell is a staff writer at CNNMoney and covers Wall Street, banking, mergers and the stock and bond markets. Prior to joining CNNMoney, she covered venture capital and entrepreneurs for Forbes, and mergers and bankruptcy for Mergermarket and Debtwire, both divisions of the Financial Times.